Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to the first quarter of FY 2027 earnings call for Brookfield India Real Estate Trust. Brookfield India Real Estate Trust released its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Brookfield India Real Estate Trust has placed the financial results, earnings presentation in the investor section on the website at www.brookfieldindiareit.in. Please note that the management may make certain remarks during this conference call that could be considered forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ from the statement, and Brookfield India Real Estate Trust does not guarantee such outcome nor undertake any obligation to update them. Any financial guidance or pro forma information shared today represents management's estimate based on specific assumptions and has not been audited, reviewed, or independently verified. We caution you against placing undue reliance on this information as there can be no assurance of achieving the results discussed.
As a reminder, all participant lines will be in listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touch-tone phone. On the call, we have the following persons: Mr. Ankur Gupta, Non-Executive Director; Mr. Shashank Jain, CEO and Managing Director; Mr. Rachit Kothari, Non-Executive Director; Mr. Saket Mehta, Head of Finance of Brookprop Management Services Private Limited; and Mr. Shailendra Sabhnani from Brookfield. I now hand the conference over to the management for the opening remarks. Thank you, and over to you, team.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. This is Shashank Jain here. A very warm welcome to Brookfield India Real Estate Trust quarter one for fiscal 2027 earnings call. Thank you to all our unitholders, analysts, and participants for joining us today for this call. Let me begin with a brief update on the macroeconomic and office market environment. India's economy continues to demonstrate resilience despite a volatile global backdrop. India's deep talent pool, comparative cost, digital ecosystem, and policy stability continues to enforce its position as a preferred destination for multinational companies and Global Capability Centres. The India office market has carried its strong momentum into 2026. Industry data indicates that office absorption has reached a record 45+ million square feet in the first half of calendar 2026, which is an increase of approximately 10% year-on-year.
GCCs accounted for roughly around 20 million square feet, which is roughly about 43% of total leasing. Green certified buildings accounted for almost 73% of the leasing activity during the quarter, implying that the demand is increasingly focused on high-quality, sustainable, and institutionally managed campuses. This market backdrop is actually directly aligned with the positioning of Brookfield India REIT. As of June 30, 2026, our portfolio comprises 32.6 million square feet across key gateway cities with a committed occupancy of around 93%, in place rent of INR 104 per square feet per month, and a long-dated WALE of 6.7 years. Our pan-India presence, high-quality tenant roster, focus on sustainability, and concentration in established office micro-market positions us well to capture continued demand from GCCs and other global occupiers. Let me now take you through our leasing and occupancy performance for the quarter.
During the first quarter of fiscal 2027, we completed 1.1 million square feet of gross leasing, comprising roughly about 700,000 sq ft of new leasing and almost 400,000 sq ft of renewals. The average rent on gross leasing was INR 100 per square feet per month, and the weighted average lease term was 9.8 years. The re-leasing spread achieved was about 14%. Leasing demand remained broad-based across product categories, spanning SEZ processing area, non-processing area, and IT and commercial spaces. GCC occupiers for us accounted for almost 39% of gross leasing during the quarter, supported by expansion demand from existing tenants such as Honeywell and KPMG Global Services. Tech services tenants also demonstrated strong commitment to our portfolio, contributing 63% of our quarterly renewals with a healthy renewable tenure of approximately 11 years.
Despite more than 1 million square feet of expiries during that quarter, we maintained portfolio committed occupancy of 93%, which is 4 percentage points higher year-on-year. We continued to proactively address future expiries. During the quarter, we secured an early renewal of approximately 565,000 sq ft with Bharti Airtel at the Airtel Center, representing around 80% of campus' gross leasable area. The renewal was completed approximately two years ahead of expiry for a nine-year lease term and a five-year lock-in on majority of the renewed area. Including the commitment secured previously, we now have de-risked approximately 1.3 million square feet of our future expiries across the remaining nine months of fiscal 2027 as well as full year fiscal 2028. This proactive approach provides greater cash flow visibility, reinforces the strength of our tenant relationships, and also reflects the tenant stickiness in the portfolio.
Our expiry profile also remains well staggered with only 8% of gross rentals due for expiry during the remaining nine months of financial year 2027 and approximately 33% cumulatively through up to financial year 2030. Let me also then talk about the acquisition that we announced. During the quarter, we signed a binding agreement to acquire 264,000 sq ft front office property comprising three contiguous floors in Godrej BKC, a landmark Grade A building located in the central business district of Mumbai. The proposed acquisition is being undertaken in a 50/50 partnership with NCW Prime Offices Fund, a part of Nuvama Group. The asset is leased to front office blue-chip tenants with high occupancy and almost 6.9 years WALE, and 82% of leased area under lock-in.
The acquisition price is INR 1,700 crore on a 100% basis, implying a 4% discount to GAV, and a cap rate of 7.4% basis FY 2028 estimates, and almost 8.1% cap rate basis FY 2030 estimates. In terms of our further growth opportunity, we have a robust sponsor group pipeline. A couple of high-quality assets approaching stabilization in the sponsor group portfolio are Waterstones Campus, a nine-acre mixed-use campus in Mumbai's airport business district. It has 1.4 million square feet GLA of office space, 48 ultra-premium service residences, and a three-acre exclusive members-only club.
The second one is in Pune, Bluegrass Business Park, a 2-million square feet GLA in Pune with Tower 1, which is fully leased, and Tower 2, which is under construction and 50% pre-leased. In addition to inorganic opportunity, the portfolio has meaningfully embedded organic growth potential of approximately 15%, which excludes contracted rent growth and mark-to-market gains.
Moving on our focus on ESG and sustainability. Sustainability remains deeply embedded in our operating philosophy. Very pleased to share that during the quarter, Worldmark New Delhi achieved the IGBC Green Existing Building Platinum rating. Our campuses at N1 and N2 received EDGE Advanced Certification, and Worldmark Gurgaon and Pavilion Mall received EDGE certification from International Finance Corporation. With that, I will hand it over to Saket to take you through the financial performance for the quarter. Saket?
Thank you, Shashank, and good morning, everyone. Let me now take you through the financial highlights for Q1 2027. Operating lease rentals for the quarter was INR 7.14 billion, representing growth of 56% year-on-year, supported by contributions from Ecoworld and same-store growth across the portfolio. Net operating income was INR 7.57 billion, reflecting growth of 51.7% year-on-year. Same-store NOI increased by approximately 8%, driven primarily by lease of vacant area, mark-to-market gains, and contractual rent escalation. For Q1 FY 2027, we declared distribution of INR 5.6 per unit. Total distribution for the quarter stood at INR 4.6 billion. Our balance sheet remains robust and well-positioned to support future growth in a disciplined manner. As of June 30, 2027, our LTV, excluding shareholder instruments, stood at 25.9%. On a pro forma basis, after the proposed acquisition in BKC, we have a dry powder of approximately INR 43 billion at a 35% LTV threshold to support future growth opportunities.
We continue to maintain dual AAA stable credit rating from CRISIL and ICRA. Our average interest rate remains at 7.3%, supported by a long-dated debt maturity profile and limited non-tough amortization. With that, I would now request the moderator to open the floor for questions.
Thank you, Saket, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin with a question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. First question comes from the line of Karan Khanna with Ambit Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. My first question to you, Shashank, given this is your first earnings call as the CEO. You are taking over a platform that has built significant scale, strong occupancy, and a sizable development and acquisition pipeline. Given your background across real estate, private equity, and M&A, what are the two or three strategic priorities you want to put your stamp on over the next 12 - 14 months? In particular, do you see the next phase of BIRET's growth being driven more by organic portfolio optimization and development or by accelerating acquisitions and expanding the platform?
Thank you, Karan, and thank you for asking this question. It is a privilege and honor for me to be taking over this position. A platform that we are also proud of. First institutionally managed, 100% institutionally managed platform. I think we are at a point of time which we are well poised for growth, and we have opportunities virtually across the portfolio. As I mentioned, we have a very robust sponsor pipeline that we would continue to look for and participate in the process as and when that comes up. We would also be open for looking at acquisitions outside the sponsor portfolio. As and when there is an opportunity, we will continue to remain a disciplined investor.
As far as the existing portfolio are concerned, yeah, you are right, we are looking at optimizing our portfolio, both in terms of our tenant profiles, occupancy, as well as any potential development opportunities within the portfolio that we have. So all in all, yes, we would be looking at a portfolio of growth from various potential available opportunities, both organically and inorganically.
Sure. Secondly, Shashank, if you look at GCCs, that remain a major structural driver for the office market, but they accounted for 39% of Q1 leasing, versus roughly 50% in Q4 and FY 2026. While technology services accounted for 63% of the Q1 renewals. So from your conversations with occupiers, are you seeing the next leg of demand broadening meaningfully beyond traditional technology and GCC users? Looking three to five years out, how are you thinking about AI-driven productivity gains affecting the quantum of office space companies ultimately need?
Yeah, good question, Karan. Thank you. Basis our conversations with our tenant partners and broader ecosystem in the industry, I think there are two, three elements that's coming in. One, we continue to see influx in robust demand from GCCs coming in. Now, there could be a few basis points here and there on a quarter-on-quarter basis. But the long-term story of India being a very attractive talent pool, and hence attracting a lot of multinationals to set up their capability centers remain intact, and we do want to continue to partner with them in their growth journey. That's one. As far as the broader tech services are concerned, as you mentioned, over 60% of renewals, I mean, the tech services continued with their renewals. Basis our conversation, there are a couple of things.
One, in the near to short term or midterm, we do not see AI impacting our clients' or tenants' decisions on occupancy as such. Like any other technology evolution, we expect all the companies to evolve themselves and in fact, use India as the AI talent hub increasingly. With that backdrop, we don't really see in the short to medium term any immediate impact or significant impact of AI disrupting our growth plans or growth plans of our tenants in a material way.
Sure. Lastly, on the BKC acquisition, roughly BIRET's share at 50% is about INR 8.5 billion. What is the expected DPU accretion for BIRET owing to the acquisition of the three floors at Godrej BKC?
For the GBKC acquisition, our assessment is it's going to be a DPU accretive acquisition. The DPU yield is expected to be about 7.1%, which is healthier than that at our portfolio level. Going forward in the, let's say, next 12 months or next full year, as we said, we see this to be an overall DPU accretive transaction or acquisition for us.
Great. That's it from my side. Thank you and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Pritesh Sheth with Axis Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Two questions from my side. Firstly, on the cash balance that we have, I know some of this would be utilized to pay for the BKC acquisition. How are we going to utilize the balance? Any plans for debt repayment, or you would still hold on to it considering that there are a couple of sponsor acquisition opportunities which are coming due? What's the strategy on that?
So, we will continue to evaluate the optimal use of cash that we have, and it is going to be a combination of any potential short-term strategy of debt repayment across various SPVs that we are in the process of evaluating. At the same time, as and when we get clarity on the timelines that the sponsors would look at in terms of initiating the process. So we will sort of balance out the utilization of cash basis these two strategies.
Sure. If you can guide us, in near term, how should we think about it? Because, I mean, holding cash would obviously not help our DPU growth in that sense. Paying off debt would enhance the yield potential. So how should we look at that?
So yes, definitely, we would be looking at paring down some debt in the near term. We are, as I mentioned, in the process of evaluating which line of credit should we look at across various SPVs? As I said, that would also depend on some guidance and clarification that we get from sponsor group on the timelines when they expect to launch the process for some of the sponsor assets that we have mentioned. Pending that, as I said, we are in the process of evaluating on a short-term basis which line of credit to be sort of prepaid as we speak.
Got it. That is helpful.
I'll just come in here. Good morning, everybody. From a sponsor side, there's a very large portfolio of the highest quality assets in the country that we have. While in the near term, yield or yield protection or yield enhancement can happen with decrease or slight decrease in debt levels, I would say that these opportunities in India on a total return basis are in the mid to high teens, just like the GBKC acquisition that we just announced. On a total return basis, given our LTV is 25% or thereabout, there is significant headroom to increase the size of the portfolio while keeping leverage levels below 35% on a portfolio basis, which has been our stated strategy that we like to be 1/3 , 2/3 on debt -to -equity basis. And the fact that we've demonstrated an ability to raise capital from the markets for amazing transactions.
I would say that the guidance from our side is growth than just debt levels being lower from this point onwards. Two transactions were highlighted besides the GBKC transaction, the one that we are just completing, the lease up in Andheri, an amazing development, as well as a CBD asset that we've developed in Pune and continue to stabilize. Again, those are two examples. There are several assets of that nature. And as Shashank mentioned, there are also amazing opportunities across non-sponsor assets as well. So I would say that the guidance I can provide from our perspective is total return, which includes NAV enhancement, distribution growth, as well as yield enhancement.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Yashas Gilganchi with BOB Capital Markets Limited. Please go ahead.
Good morning, team. Thank you for taking my questions. When do you expect to conclude the acquisition of the GBKC asset? And since cap rates are being calculated on the NOI of FY 2028 and 2029, is it right to assume that the rents from the new property are likely to start flowing in sometime in FY 2028?
Yeah. We are looking at closing the transaction somewhere by the end of next month. As we mentioned, it is a significantly leased asset, and we expect by closing it to be 100% leased up. You are right, the rent should start on 100% basis in the next fiscal year.
Got it. With 90% of your outstanding debt referencing floating rates and given the volatile macro environment, what are your thoughts on how interest expenses are likely to evolve over the near future? Also, are you considering any measure to control for the volatility in interest expense?
Yeah. Look, our debt is almost 90% of our debt is floating, but bulk of it is linked to repo rates, right? Any volatility in repo rates is what will cause, I would say, any movement in the interest expenses. In fact, if you think about it, our interest rate stack ranges anywhere between sub- 7% rates to mid -7% rates today, averaging to about 7.3%. So we do not expect that there will be out of turn volatility in these rates unless the central bank moves the repo. But at the same time, we continue to evaluate fixed rate structures. We in fact, did a bond not too long back.
The idea would be as we think of the next phase of growth and next acquisitions, and we re-lever this REIT, fixed rate bonds will continue to be a big source of consideration for us to finance the future growth from this point onwards.
Got it. That is clear. Just lastly, re-leasing spreads have been trending downwards actually since 1Q 2026, even as larger volume of space is being leased. What is happening and how do you think spreads are likely to trend over the long term?
If you see our history, generally the re-leasing spreads that we have managed to achieve over the last three fiscals have been in the zip code of anywhere between 15%-20%. On an average, about 10% of our area churns. Every year, about 50%- 60% of which we manage to renew, 30%- 40% churns out, and we get new tenants in. I think it will look to be very similar as we go along. So we will continue to have that 15% - 20% fillip on 10% of area. So additional 1 percentage point or 2 percentage points of growth every year on a steady state basis. So we do not expect that the forward projection for this will be any different than what we have seen in the last three fiscals.
Got it. Thank you very much. Have a nice day.
Thank you. Our next question come from the line of Kunal with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Great. Thank you. A couple of questions from my side. The first one, given the 60% renewal you were highlighting has happened on the IT services side, do you see any difference in the commercial attractiveness of renewal deals with IT services in comparison with the GCCs? Wonder if there's a delta in terms of either the mark-to-market uplift you can get, the tenure that they signed for, or maybe the expansion potential that they indicate.
Yeah. So we continue to evaluate each transaction basis the micro market and our campuses. When it comes to GCC or tech services, I think the approach is no different. We approach it, and equally all our clients approach it with the same commercial bent of mind, considering various factors of their existing presence, concentration, potential to expand in the same campus or the same micro market, and the trending rates in the micro market, and the mark-to-market potentials. If you look at some of our large renewables that we've had, like Accenture, et cetera, I think it's been a healthy commitment that we've got from them.
Understand. Specifically on MTM conversion, do you think that there's any bit of a delta or the overall approach you are highlighting takes care of it?
Kunal, I'll just give you an example, and we actually did cover it the last quarter, but maybe I'll just use that to guide this conversation. One of the largest tech services companies actually took up expansion space with us in Noida, almost tripling their footprint. And the way it came about was their own manpower planning with a decent tenure term and a five-year lock-in. But the rates on that, to answer your question very specifically, we managed to get a 25% mark-to-market. I think the outcome is fairly market, even when we're talking to tech services in many of these takeups. Of course, renewals can be slightly different from new takeups. But again, the outcome that they're solving for is a market trend. Just given vacancy in many of these markets is now single digit, certainly in the ones that we operate in.
Anybody who wants to be present there has to pay the market rent, and that's the trend for the past two examples that we have.
Got it.
Just to add on to, in so many ways, you've seen a little bit of waking up of tech companies and putting out their messages even more clearly. Certainly, playing on the front foot as to what changes in the AI-based economy or whatever the promise of AI in terms of efficiency means for these companies.
Yeah.
We expect that these companies will actually be a little bit more forward-thinking. In fact, the questions four years ago used to be, will IT companies continue to support rentals or will they have too much bargaining power, et cetera? I think that equilibrium is now reached, where a significant majority of new leases are being considered by a wider variety of companies. The other aspect is, one is that IT companies will be more nimble. They will have to scale up, or they are scaling up in their delivery models, et cetera, which means higher quality talent, higher quality spaces as a result of that. Second, the line between services delivery and headquarters is blurring. GCC is a perfect example. They are global delivery centers. They are no longer outsourcing offices, et cetera.
As a result of all of that, you would find that higher quality spaces, better quality landlords, better locations, better connectivity. Renters will become renters or whatever the implied renters are going to be only one factor. Again, we have the best quality portfolio, and that augurs very well for our type of real estate ownership.
Understood. Very clear, Ankur. My second question, Ankur, again, this is sort of going back to the three aspects of what you look at in terms of driving the return for you as you look to deploy the remaining dry powder on the balance sheet. The question was more around, given that the overall market trends have moved up, interest rates have done what it is, how do you think your forward return expectations from M&A that you might have in the pipe, start to differ from what you have done in the last two to three years?
I would say that on the M&A side, as has been the trend, majority of M&A will be focused on built assets. In our experience, India has a supply side problem, not a demand side problem, which means if we can continue to acquire high-quality assets on a total return basis, these assets will continue to outperform the market. Which means, whether we showed 15% total return, and usually, if we buy the highest quality assets and manage them very well, they will outperform. Beating the market cost of capital consistently with performance is what we are set out to do. I don't think that our current pipeline and our future projections should look very different. In fact, we have outperformed virtually in every acquisition that we have done in the past.
I think with the occupancy levels now in the 90%, those assets that we bought will do even better.
Kunal, if I can answer your question, I think if you are doing something good, then repeating that and doing it slightly better is the way to proceed.
Understood. Just maybe one more nuance on that. Do you set for yourself a minimum return hurdle in that sense?
Absolutely do. Minimum return is beating our cost of capital, which you guys set for us, to be honest, or certainly the valuers do. In all the acquisitions, we have tried to better that, in terms of it being better than the cost of capital and on a return basis being accretive on an NAV basis as well as on a DPU basis. I think they are very simple benchmarks that we try to follow as guide rails. As I said, it is not a complicated business. We are not splitting atoms here. If you can do the basics right and repeat and do it slightly better every year, we will do very well overall.
Yeah. Perfect. All right. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Nilesh Doshi with Prospero Tree AMC. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity, sir. Sir, distribution is one of the criteria to remain invested in any REIT. So I would like to know at what rate our distribution is likely to increase in the coming years, as our lease agreements mostly contain the 5% increment every year or 15% at the end of the three years. In addition to that, all new lease agreements are generally executed at a higher rate than the expiring rate. And every year, we are increasing the economy occupancy. So, I think our distribution must be increased by more than 5%. Is it my correct understanding? Please, your view.
Thank you, Nilesh. As we have given in our guidance, we are looking at, to be specific, a 15% embedded growth in our DPU from the current portfolio that we have, as and when it stabilizes. And we are at about 93% occupancy. We have given a guidance of 96%-97%. For some of the assets that we have or we have acquired, once they are fully leased and the lease-up happens, we are looking at a 15% growth, give and take. Our sense is it will take about two years on an as is basis. To answer your question, yes, that there will be a more than 5% increase.
Because at current. Sorry.
Same quarter last year, we distributed INR 5.25. We are distributing INR 5.60 now. That's a 7% growth over the same quarter, last 12 months. That should be the trend. If your income grows at 5% - 6%, you should be able to drive DPU by 7% - 8%, in addition to the yield.
Because when you say the total return is around 14%- 15% and our current yield is around 6%, so 9% by the capital application. Is it like that?
Yeah. When we say 15% - 16%, that's for the asset level return under the REIT. What reflects in the stock price is a function of the markets as well, and the larger interest rate regime. Again, broadly speaking, if a product starts at 6.5% - 7% yield on an equity basis and has 5% - 6% top-line growth, with leverage, that should translate to about 7% - 8% bottom-line growth. If you add 7% - 8% to a 7% yield, you would emerge at a 14% - 15% return. I don't know if that answers the question.
Yes. Mostly. Sir, last question. What is the economic occupancy? You mentioned that 93% is the committed occupancy, but there is a difference between the committed and rent-generating occupancy. So what is our actual rent-generating occupancy?
Typically, you will see a delta of 3%-4%. Our rent-generating occupancy should be about 89%-90%.
We are at 88%- 89%?
We are at 89%. That is why I said our rent generating is about 89%- 90%.
Thank you. That is all from my side. Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Rugved Bhokarikar with Neo Wealth. Please go ahead.
Sir, two questions from my side. Number one, what is the dividend mix in the entire distribution going ahead? Amongst the dividend, what would be the rough split of dividend coming from old and new regime? What would be the impact considering the recent changes that we are anticipating? The second is, in general, I have seen that Brookfield is doing a JV kind of an investment. Be it the earlier Delhi portfolio or the current investment. So why is it so that we are going for JV kind of investment, whereas other REITs are, in general, trying to acquire the entire asset? I wanted to know the thought process.
Sure, Rugved. Your question has three parts. Let me take all the parts one by one. Our current dividend distribution percentage is about 17% out of the total DPU. With some of the corporate actions we are looking at a few SPV levels, and relooking at the capital structure on an overall basis. We expect that to increase to I would say early 20s. The second part of your question is the impact of tax legislations around some of the tax benefits that have come in. Again, it has got two, three elements which we are currently in the process of working out the exact impact. One is obviously the historical MAT credit write backs. The other is the tax rate change. As you know, we were in the old regime, ranging from a 29% to 34%, 35%, which in the new regime will be 28 %+.
The third component of that is no MAT liability going forward. As we speak, we are in the process of working out the exact impact, which will come back to the broader group in due course, once we've sort of worked out the math around it. The third element you asked for, a joint venture approach there. As REIT, as buyer of these assets, I can tell you, we participated in a formal process that the sellers embarked upon. For example, for GBKC, we were amongst the top shortlisted bidders, and so was Nuvama, who we decided to partner with, therefore, because we were ballpark in the same range. That also demonstrates our willingness and our ability to partner with the broader ecosystem in the market, whether it's Nuvama or whether it's other such players.
We do believe in benefits of strategic relationships with wealth channels and coverage channels like Nuvama. We will continue to be a disciplined investor where we can maximize the returns for our investors.
On the MAT tax point, I'll just add that, by the virtue of the fact that we have traditionally went after larger real estate and larger campuses, most of them are at the scale of anywhere between 2.5 million and 4 million square feet. Which kind of means that our revenue in each of these SPVs is more than INR 400 crore. So the old tax regime versus new tax regime has an 8 percentage point saving on the tax itself, which is a big, big flow through. Straight up to, number one, to the direct savings to the SPVs that will distribute, but also it'll improve the dividends and the PAT as a result of that. Overall, I think it's going to be a positive.
We will quantify it at our end, understand this in a little bit more detail, and maybe next quarter, you will have a full disclosure from us around what it means for our REIT in specific. In addition to the points that Shashank mentioned on no MAT liability going forward.
Got it, sir. Sir, just to follow up on this, if let us say I were to break up the total entire JV of the BIRET into old and new tax regime, so how much would this break up be roughly?
Everything today is old tax regime. Everything will move into the new tax regime if-
Okay.
-the mathematics makes sense.
Okay. Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Anuj Upadhyay with Investec Capital Services (India) Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Hey. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity, sir. Just to check on the occupancy side. Anyway, our portfolio stands at a very strong 93%. Just to get a sense how exactly we plan to move from here, especially on the G1 and G2 portfolio, where we still have a scope of scaling up the occupancy. Considering the fact that G1 has close to around 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh of lease area set for expire over next one or two years. So how things are placed over there?
Yeah. Before I answer this specific question, Anuj, I do want to clarify on the previous question that while we are talking about the change in tax regime and how does it benefit us, just a caveat that, as we understand, it has not yet been legislated. It's going through the process by the legislation for various approvals. So just wanted to call that out. Subject to the final rules that are approved and come up, is where the exact impact by us would be understood and quantified. So just wanted to call that out so that there's no confusion. Now, coming to your specific question, yes, there are a couple of assets, specifically G1 and G2, which relatively are slightly lower in occupancy. If you see directionally how G1 has scaled up, we have crossed 90%+ . It's almost at about 91% occupancy.
I think we are benefiting from two elements. One, there aren't such wide campus format assets in the micro market which are easily available. Hence we continue to attract our customers and tenants there. We continue to see a fair bit of expansion requests coming in from our existing tenants in both these parks. We do plan to leverage that and ensure that the occupancies inches up closer to the portfolio averages over the next three, four quarters. That should help us bring in the average occupancies further up.
This would largely be driven from the existing player within the same premise or we have some new players also coming in, like we have this global home in the current quarter, that is Q1. Are we seeing traction from other players as well?
While a significant portion of demand is getting generated as expansion strategies from our existing tenants, we do have a fair bit of pipeline from potentially new clients and new tenants. While the larger tilt is towards the existing tenants looking for expansion, the new tenant pipeline is also fairly healthy for us.
I'll give you an example.
Thank you, Shashank.
A couple of quarters back, we signed up a large domestic automobile company who actually consolidated from four properties into G2. That was about a 250,000 sq ft requirement with some expansion options attached to it. We expect that going forward, similar demand can come from other quarters because, as it stands, the asset sits in a 30 million square feet micro market, which means there is 10 x more space outside the premises than it is inside. There can be a lot of occupiers who can potentially look to consolidate into benefits of having a single building, which is only on offer in an asset like ours today.
Thanks, all. That is helpful.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Pritesh Sheth with Axis Capital. Please go ahead. Pritesh, you may please proceed ahead with the question.
Yeah. Thanks for the opportunity. Just couple of follow-ups. Firstly, couple of clarifications on the NDCF side. This quarter, we had a sharp jump in distribution to RECO entities. Just wanted to get your reason on that. Is it something which would be a new normal or some one-off for this quarter? In terms of SPV cash utilization, I think last quarter we mentioned that we do have INR 50 crore-INR 60 crore worth of cash, which is still pending to be utilized and will utilize. That amount, that remains unchanged or is there some increase there? Would that be largely utilized this year? Yeah, those two questions on the NDCF side.
I think I take the second question first. Yes, last quarter we talked about surplus cash, which was in the range of INR 55 crore-INR 60 crore. We did utilize some portion of it for this particular quarter, and the balance one left is about INR 35 crore-INR 40 crore. I just wanted to mention that when we do a new acquisition, then sometimes we get new line of surplus cash as well as opening balance. This is a moving factor, which we have to consider as we do more acquisitions.
On your first question, what's changed between the last quarter and this quarter is, we have got a new partner, which is 360 ONE. It's their share of distributions that is clubbed in the line item that you're seeing. It's not that RECO has jumped a lot. It's just that there's one more partner getting a share of distribution from the REIT.
Oh, yes, you're right. Okay, perfect. Just on Ecoworld Campus 3, any update there in terms of are we going for refurbishment or redevelopment? I think August is when the tenant leaves. Just an update on that.
Sure. As we speak, discussions are underway with the tenant for timelines on vacating the premises, and basis that, the exact timelines, we will also work out our plan of action for the building. We will come back to the group once we have full clarity on it.
Got it. Fair enough. Those were my questions. Thank you, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Gaurav Goyal with Kotak Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good afternoon, team. My question is more regarding the growth aspect. While we see a lot of inorganic growth happening in the REIT through sponsored asset acquisitions, for most of the other REITs, we see a large part of growth also coming in through development potential. In this REIT, as we all know, the large part of the development potential lies in the Kolkata asset. What is the outlook on Kolkata as a micro market with all the changes that have happened, and how is the rental as well as the overall market looking on that front? Do you plan to start under construction, sort of construct assets on those lines?
Yeah. All right. I will take it in two parts. One, as you know, part of the development potential in Kolkata is our project called Bay Town. I think that is about 0.6 million square feet. I think that should go live in the next couple of quarters, two to three quarters. We would soon be starting to market that particular project or asset in Kolkata, which is in the same premises or adjoining piece of land. As far as the broader potential in Kolkata is concerned, we are closely watching the situation as it unfolds. There is a general optimism that the industry has shown us basis our various conversations. We do expect things to become clearer on ground in the next few quarters. We are closely watching the sentiments as they unfold, and we will, basis that, decide the next course of action.
Understood. Just another question, in terms of the Godrej asset that you are acquiring. Generally, in Mumbai, most of the agreements are signed for five years. I see the WALE in and around 6.9. What could be the rationale behind this?
Many of the tenants who took up space actually went under the longer route and paid full stamp duty, including some of the names as State Bank, Brookfield, and World Bank. So these tenants are given the nature of the fit-outs they do. They, of course, want to be sticky. They do not want to reinvest in their fit-outs and generally like to secure a longer tenure. That is why in spaces like BKC, you would see more leases than licenses.
Understood. Thanks. That is all from my end.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one. Our next question comes from the line of Dhiraj Dave with Samvad Financial Services LLP. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Can you hear me?
Yes, sir, we can hear you.
My question is, basically, if we look at generally all the risks which have been discussed, probably this is the best of the time where we see everything demand time, there is no issue. People are saying re-rental even happening at higher quality building, at higher premium to market, and that information also been shared. In our case, can you let us know what has been the premium over M2M expiring lease? I am not just talking about the M2M kind of thing. Whether there was any kind of premium which we got as compared with the prevailing price in last quarter or last one year over it. And whether you can-
Is the question that are we getting mark-to-market spreads on our-
I am saying whether we are getting premium over mark-to-market. So let us say lease is expiring at 100, mark-to-market is 120. Whether we are able to renew at 130, which is a INR 10 premium to the ruling price.
To be honest, wherever you lease is the market. There's no concept of premium to market the way we see it. In fact, what you can do is outperform your last target and then call it the new market rent. I don't think the market stays at 120 if you lease at 130. The moment you lease at 130, everything goes to 130. I think that's probably the right way to look at it. But, I think more factually, we have consistently achieved 15%-20% uptick on expiry rents as we have renewed spaces over the course of the last year, including as recent as the last quarter. So we continue to clock that. There's, of course, a little bit of difference between the various markets. In Kolkata, we have seen rents go from 40% to almost now mid-60% over the course of last two years.
We continue to hit that trend in many of our leasing conversations and the renewal conversations. In markets like Mumbai, we have seen 8% year-over-year growth. We may not have seen that much in Gurgaon, but Noida continues to be very close to inflation. It's a mixed bag. But on an average, the beauty of having 32 million square feet is that it works like a diversified portfolio, and we continue to get almost 15%-20% spreads on the overall average.
Appreciate that part. The second part is that why we are not able to achieve the all-time high distribution? I understand we had some kind of, if it was INR 3.50, then you got listed. There was some kind of a cash flow which was available. But it's now almost five years since we are listed, and we're still not able to I'm just saying as a layman kind of way, talking about we did acquisition, we did kind of thing, and all this DPU are accretive, but still I find my distribution which was INR 6.5, which was highest which we have achieved, and now also I'm at INR 5.50. So what should go right? When should we expect distribution increase? All growth exercise, I appreciate, and we will get benefit. But I also want to see in organic growth also.
Why we are not able to get that growth? Because I find if I compare with peers, I see a significant improvement in that. Those guys are also acquiring, and they are also growing. Is it something because of market in which we are operating or how you explain that?
Look, this is Ankur. I would say two things. A lot of research is published where they are doing peer comparison or they do peer comparison. It is a little bit not our place to be comparing ourselves to peers, because I would say that our distributions have increased. All the-
I am sorry. If you look at your historical distribution-
You have to let me complete.
-you have not reached your all-time high. That is what my simple question. Five years passed, we are strong, but unable to reach what we are given. This time I understand you have some kind of cash flow and you are not paying on some debentures, et cetera. That has got hit you. That part I understand, but the point is that when we will see that distribution or we are reaching all time high. That is my limited point.
If you don't let me answer the question, then I think we can move to the next question. Sorry, moderator, we can move to the next question.
Sure. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Nilesh Doshi with Prospero Tree AMC. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the follow-up, sir. Sir, do we have any property in a location where the local authority has permitted the higher FSI so we can increase our leasable area by spending some money on a construction cost?
It's a fair question. Look, FAR and FSI rules in India are getting, I would say, more modern. Most markets are allowing more density. Slightly technical, even when FAR is allowed, because the coverage rules are such that you may not be able to consume them unless you break buildings. Some buildings have long-term leases. So we go through a portfolio optimization exercise every quarter, every year, to ensure that we are able to financially achieve the best outcome in terms of creating more area or utilizing the existing area better. But that's a fair question, and I think our large estates ultimately allow for those levels of opportunities coming through to us. But again, those will be sporadic. We are 94% leased, so it's not always easy for us to create densification in our existing parks. But across the board, we have opportunities.
Just like there was a question around the Campus 3 in Ecoworld. There is a real opportunity where once tenant leaves, we can densify the site. Similarly, in some of our large assets in Gurgaon, there are opportunities for us to increase FAR, and we do it in a thoughtful and methodical manner. It is a great observation.
Okay. And sir, last question, if permit. Sir, where the traction is higher, because I think the Mumbai is the costliest real estate. So out of the other places, where the higher possibility of sir.
Land is expensive across the country, right? India is a place with the highest population density among the top 10 economies in the world. Compared to the U.S., we are 12x more dense. China, we are 3x more dense. So India is a pretty land-constrained country. Certainly, our cities have become mega cities, 20+ million population. So across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, even Kolkata, there is pressure on land, and we look for opportunities everywhere.
Oh. Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jahnvi Shah with Share India Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you, sir, for letting me ask a question. Sir, I know that you just gave clarifications on the old and new tax regime, but on that note itself, I just wanted to know how many of our SPVs are basically in that tax holiday at the moment, because that will determine when they will move towards the new regime, right? If you can give me some clarity on that forward.
Hi. As we explained, one of the basic point of this is the taxability of DPU in the hands of unitholder. Basis that-
Yeah.
-all our SPVs were in the old regime. From that perspective, what we are saying is if the DPU is going to become tax-free, all of them will move into the new regime. It's a lift and shift from old to new for all the SPVs. Then one of the, again, bigger factor is that there is going to be no MAT, right? That is also-
Yes.
-we are going to follow for all the SPVs. As we said in the previous answers, I think this is a big significant announcement for REIT as a whole, and we are doing enough due diligence to come back with a number. But we are going to go in new regime for all the SPVs.
No, I completely understand that. The movement to the new one will be more beneficial for everyone. It is just that I just wanted to understand on, let us say because right now for SPVs, which are, let us say, in the tax holiday, we will just have to pay the MAT and not the actual tax liability. So that will be a lot lower than the actual tax. So moving to the new one for the same will not make sense.
Sorry, could you repeat your question?
Participant has left the queue. Our next question comes from the line of Puneet with HSBC. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question. Sorry, I joined a bit. The answer. This is with respect to the acquisition that you announced.
Puneet, I am really sorry, but your voice is breaking. Can you check your network, please? Thank you.
Can you hear me well now?
Yes.
Okay, great. Yeah. Thank you so much. You might have answered this earlier. I joined a bit late. Can you talk about your thought process of acquiring a strata asset here, three floors? How will long-term maintenance happen for this kind of asset? Why do it with Nuvama jointly? Lastly, on the NOI side, you talk about INR 1.250 billion as potential NOI. If you can just give some breakdown of that also, it would be very helpful.
Puneet, this is Ankur. Would love to host you here, if you haven't been to our office. That will really bring this asset to the front of your mind space here, which would be great for us to demonstrate the quality of the asset, the location, et cetera. This really is a building within a building. We have a separate lobby entrance. This is a large floor plate, more than 2.5 lakh square feet . On a value basis, this is more than a 1 million square foot average of most of the markets in the country. Our rentals are 4 x of the average portfolio rental. So you think about it in the context of a 1 million square foot average asset in the best location in Mumbai and the best market in the country. So I think if you contextualize that, it will probably answer the question.
Maintenance of the building, we have a say in that. We are part of the building condo. The building is occupied by the highest quality tenants as well. We've been here for the last five years as Brookfield, both as an owner of this asset as well as an occupier. So it's a fantastic asset, the best in the country. As Shashank mentioned earlier, in the bidding, Brookfield REIT and our partner here emerged neck to neck, and it was only fair that both partners could come to an agreement and acquire it jointly.
No doubt about the quality of building, but here, five, six years down the line, should one think of any potential risk of disputes on maintenance, et cetera, or is there a separate contract that you have with the other existing owners which insulate you from those sort of risks that we see in some of the other strata-sold buildings?
Compared to regular strata-sold building, this is highly institutionally owned between us and owner occupiers on the other side. I don't think that's a risk. There's always a risk in anything that we do-
Yeah.
-but massively managed here.
I will just add that the building has been in existence for 12 years. It has performed at the same level. You, of course, must have seen the asset in the past, has a very live, I would say very thriving F&B retail downstairs, has continued to command the best tenants in all of BKC, the best rents in all of BKC.
That has all been under a condominium structure where, as Ankur said, there are four large institutional owners between a large pharma company, another domestic fund/developer, a big family office, as well as Brookfield. So very like-minded people and decisions typically happen very commercially in societies like these that are established in CBDs. So we do not see the challenge that you are talking about. At least we do not foresee it in the near future. But the other part of having an ownership like this is, or having a stack like this is there can be potential opportunities to grow in the building and consolidate in the building, given there are four owners. I think having access to capital like the one that our REIT has access to would put us in a good spot as we think about growing in the building and consolidating more space as well.
Understood. That is helpful. On your NOI expectation for FY 2028, which is INR 1.250 billion-
Yes.
-which is INR 1.250 billion. This is different from what the valuers have given. Can you help understand what is the gap?
Puneet, this is basically the gross NOI number from the valuation reports that we have shared with you. The INR 1.250 billion number is the gross NOI number from the valuation reports.
From, I understand. Okay. Great. That is all from my side. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to the management for the closing remarks. Thank you. And over to you, team.
Thank you. Thank you everyone for taking time out and participating in this call. We look forward to be in touch with you and continued interactions. Much appreciate your time there. Thank you so much. Have a good day.
Thank you so much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, that concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.